Sept. 4, 2005

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

MADISON, Wis. - Senior Neil Dombrowski scored two goals and assisted on another as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team defeated UNLV 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at the McClimon Soccer Complex. The Panthers (1-0-1) get their first victory of the season at the expense of the Rebels (0-2) at the Big Toe Soccer Invitational.

"We are still very much a work in progress," Milwaukee head coach Louis Bennett said. "We managed to shore up a lot of things today that we didn't do well against Drake on Friday."

The Panthers held a 2-0 advantage late into the match until UNLV broke through in the 81st minute to make it 2-1. Dombrowski scored his second goal six minutes later on a penalty kick to put the game away for UWM.

Milwaukee could have widened their lead in the final 10 minutes of the game, but squandered several quality scoring chances. They had a series of breakaway opportunities, but did not take advantage of them on the scoreboard until the penalty kick.

That play started when UNLV's Omar Bywaters received a red card when he was called for a deliberate hand ball on a shot that sophomore Dan Zelasko had rifled toward the open goal. Dombrowski followed with the PK, giving him two goals in a game for the first time in his UWM career.

"Sometimes you have games like that," Bennett said in regards to the missed scoring chances. "Fortunately, it didn't come back to haunt us today."

Dombrowski found his offensive touch in the match, taking part in all three of the scores on the way to a career-high five point (2G/1A) effort. His first goal came at the 14:41 mark following a combination of passes. After a throw-in, sophomore Andre Francois flipped a pass to junior Craig Mallace inside the 18-yard box. Mallace settled the ball for Dombrowski, who turned and fired the shot for his first goal of the season.

The Panthers made it 2-0 in the 38th minute. After taking a pass from sophomore Troy Spielmann, Dombrowski nearly netted back-to-back goals, but his header went off the post. Junior Steve Sperl then settled the ball, sending a back pass to senior Kyle Zenoni who curled in his second goal of the young season from the top of the box.

After giving up three goals in the season opener on Friday, the defense was much improved against the Rebels. A goal by Chris Wessel in the 81st minute was the only thing that prevented the shutout. Junior goalie Eric Mickschl made six saves in the game for his first victory on the year.

Milwaukee held an 18-12 advantage in shots in the match, while each team forced just one corner kick apiece. A total of 41 fouls, including 23 by the Panthers, were called in the game, with four yellow cards being issued to UNLV (in addition to the one red) and one to UWM.

Milwaukee placed second at the tournament, finishing runner-up to host UW-Madison who went 2-0 on the weekend. The six goals they scored in the two games were more than any other squad (Drake and Wisconsin had four, UNLV two). They did place three players on the all-tournament team, which was named Sunday evening: sophomores Tenzin Rampa, Steve Bode and Zeke Dombrowski.

The Badgers Sho Fujita and Aaron Hohlbein were awarded tournament MVPs, Fujita on offense and Hohlbein on defense.

The Panthers will be off until Friday, when they open the home portion of their 2005 schedule with a contest against Oakland University, starting at 4 p.m. That game is part of the 32nd Annual Pepsi Panther Invitational, with Oakland, Wisconsin, and Farleigh Dickinson all taking part of the event held at Engelmann Field. The opening match will have Wisconsin taking on FDU at 2 p.m. Friday.